Quick answer
Gandalf is a boy name meaning "wand elf".
Pronunciation: English /ˈɡæn.dɑlf/.
Meaning and history
The name means "wand elf" in Old Norse, from the elements gandr "wand, staff, magic, monster" and alfr "elf". This name belongs to a dwarf (Gandálfr) in the Völuspá, a 13th-century Scandinavian manuscript that forms part of the Poetic Edda. The author J. R. R. Tolkien borrowed it for a wizard in his novels The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954). His name in the fictional Sindarin language is Mithrandir "grey pilgrim".
Notes and context
Usage: norse mythology, literature